Carton loading machine



Aug. 22, 1961' c. E. PRICE CARTON LOADING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 7, 1959 INVENTOR. Id

Aug. 22, 1961 v c. E. PRICE 2,996,856

CARTON LOADING MACHINE Filed April '7. 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 My? Wg Aug. 22, 1961 c. E. PRICE 2,996,856

CARTON LOADING MACHINE Filed April 7, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Aug. 22, 1961 c. E. PRICE 2,996,856

CARTON LOADING MACHINE Filed April 7, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 x 1 I INVENTOR. dgzy ldwlkfllke United States This invention relates to a machine or apparatus for loadmg small packages into a box or carton.

The object of the invention is to provide a machine which is adapted to be used for simultaneously loading a plurahty of small packages into a carton such as a carton made of cardboard.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carton loadlng machine which includes means for supplying cartons one at a time from a hopper or source of supply to the vlcinity of a loading head, and wherein there is further provided a means for automatically opening the cartonsfrom their forward position when the cartons are in the vicinity of the loading head, whereby a plurality of small packages such as cellophane wrapped cluster like sandwiches can be conveniently loaded into the open carton.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a carton loading machine wherein a plurality of small packages such as packages of foodstuffs can be supplied from a suitable location and whereby these packages will be automatically and conveniently loaded into a carton so that such cartons can be loaded more rapidly and efliciently and wherein a minimum amount of labor and expense is required.

A further object of the invention is to provide a carton loading machine which is extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, and in which like numerals are used to designate like parts throughout the same.

FIGURE 1 is an end elevational view of the loading machine, with parts broken away and in section.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a schematic view illustrating the present invention.

Referring in detail to the drawings, there is shown a carton loading machine which is adapted to be used for loading small packages such as packages of peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers, or the like into cartons such as cardboard cartons. While the present invention is being described in connection with the loading of small packages of foodstufis into cartons, it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to any particular foodstuif or material since various types of material can be handled such as candy, crackers or the like.

According to the present invention there is provided a generally U-shaped support member which is indicated generally by the numeral 10, and the support member 10 includes a horizontally disposed portion 11 as well as spaced parallel vertically disposed portions 12. The numeral 19 indicates a horizontally disposed plate which is mounted above the support member 10, and there is provided a pair of spaced parallel vertically disposed beams 13 which are secured in place, as for example by means of securing elements 14. The numeral 15 designates each of a plurality of spaced apart vertically disposed guide members, and these guide members 15 may have inclined portions 16 and the guide members 15 define therebetween a plurality of spaced apart passageways or guideways as indicated by the numeral 17, FIGURE 2. The numeral 18 indicates packages of crackers or the like which are adapted to pass along the passageways 17 from right to left in FIGURES 2 and 3 and these packages 18 are adapted to be supplied from a suitable source of supply. These packages 18 may be moved along through the passageways 17 by means of a conveyor which is indicated by the numeral 20, FIGURE 3, and the conveyor 20 is of conventional construction and includes an endless belt 22 and a drive roller 21.

Extending upwardly from ends of the guide members 15 are vertically disposed ears 23 which terminate in horizontally disposed sections 24, and a horizontally disposed crosspiece 25 extends across the sections 24 and is secured thereto as for example by means of securing elements 26, FIGURE 3.

Extending upwardly from the beams 13 and secured thereto as by means of securing elements 28 is a pair of spaced parallel vertically disposed arms 27. A horizontally disposed top member 29 extends between the upper ends of the arms 27 and is secured thereto as by welding. The numeral 34) indicates a stationary block which is secured as at 32 to the top member 29, and the block 30 is provided with a guideway 31 through which extends a slidable plunger 32.

The numeral 34 indicates a cylinder which may be actuated by air under pressure, and the cylinder 34 is affixed to the block 30 as at 35. A movable rod 36 depends from the cylinder 34 and is connected as at 37 to a vertically disposed movable plunger 32, and the plunger 32 is mounted for slidable travel in the guideway 31 of the block 30. The numeral 38 indicates retaining strips whichare provided for maintaining the strips 38 fastened to the block 30, and the strips 38 are held in place by means of securing elements 39.

Secured to the lower end of the plunger 32 or formed integral therewith is a horizontally disposed movable bracket 40, and the numeral 41 designates each of a plurality of vertically disposed spaced parallel fingers which depend from the bracket 40. L-shaped body members 42 are fastened to the lower ends of the fingers 41 as at 43, and the body members 42 include horizontal portions 44 and vertical portions 45.

There is further provided a plurality of spaced apart switch units which are each indicated by the numeral 47, and each of the switch units 47 includes a movable contact 48, the switch units 47 being fastened to a vertically end piece 46, as for example as shown in FIGURE 3.

The numeral 49 indicates a hopper which is adapted to be loaded with folded cartons such as the cartons 50 which are to be filled with the packages 18. The movable contacts 48 of the switch units 47 are arranged in the path of the packages 18.

The numeral 49 indicates the hopper which is adapted to be loaded with boxes or cartons 50 and as shown in FIGURE 1, these cartons 50 are arranged in a collapsed or folded position when in the hopper 49. These cartons 50 are adapted to be opened by means of suction cups 51 which are carried by members 52, and the members 52 are pivotally supported as at 53. The members 52 have rods 54 pivotally connected thereto as at 57, and the rods 54 are pivotally connected to a base 56 as at 55.

There is further provided a mechanism for moving the lowermost carton 50 from the hopper 49 so that this carbon 50 can be moved into operative position. This mechanism comprises an air cylinder 58 which has a movable rod 59 extending therefrom, and the rod 59 is pivotally connected to a movable lever 60 as at 61, the lever 60 being pivotally connected to a member 63 as at 62, FIGURE 1. A link 64 is connected to the lever 60 a as at 65, and the link 64 is connected to a shiftable support piece 67 as at 66. The support piece 67 carries a spring loaded dog 68 which is adapted to engage the lowermost carton 50 in the hopper 49and shift this carton over so that it can be engaged by the suction cups 51 and opened and whereby a plurality of the packages 18 can then be loaded into the opened carton 50 so that the job of loading such a carton is simplified and speeded up and made automatic.

If desired the members may be made in separate sections so that two of the members 10 may be used and wherein each of these members may have an L-shaped formation instead of being U-shaped in formation as previously described.

A means is provided for selectively supporting the packages 18 until the packages 18 are pushed down into the carton 56' which is in position to receive the packages, and this means comprises a hanger 69 which is mounted below the plates 19, FIGURE 3. A guide member 70 is arranged contiguous to the hanger 69, and the guide member 70 is provided with slots or cutouts 71, and the numeral 72 indicates each of a plurality of movable or pivotally supported straps 72 which are adapted to selectively support the packages 18. Portions of the straps 72 extend through the cutouts 71 and are pivotally connected to the hanger 69 as at 73. The other ends 75 of the straps 72 are connected to links 74 which are pivotally connected to a movable beam 76 by means of pins 77. The beam 76 is shifted or moved by means of an air cylinder 79 which has a rod 78 connected to an end of the beam 76. Thus, when the air cylinder 79 is properly actuated, the rod 78 will be moved and this will cause the beam 76 to shift so that the links 74 will pivot the straps 72 whereby the packages of crackers 18 being supported on the straps 72 can drop down into the open carton 50 therebelow.

The numeral 80 indicates guide flaps for helping to insure that the packages will be properly guided down into the open carton therebelow.

The numeral 81 indicates a portion of a framework which can be used for supporting the apparatus of the present invention. The carton 56 is adapted to be supported on angle irons 82, FIGURE 5, when the suction cups 51 are being used for opening the cartons 50. Suitable conduits or lines can be used for connecting the variious air cylinders to their proper sources of supply of air under pressure. As shown in FIGURE 6 for example a vacuum pump 83 of conventional construction is adapted to be operated by a motor 84. The numeral 85 indicates an air compressor which is operated by a motor 86, and the numeral 8'7 indicates the main on and off switch. The numeral 88 indicates a control switch, while the numeral 89 indicates a double throw double pole switch and the numeral 90 indicates a disengaging switch, while in FIGURE 6 the numeral 91 indicates a control valve and as stated previously suitable conduits serve to connect the various cylinders to the air under pressure, and the vacuum pump 83 is also connected by suitable conduits to the suction cups 51. An air cylinder 92 is pro vided for moving the members such as the members 52 which carry the suction cups 51.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that there has been provided a carton loading machine which is adapted to be used for loading small packages such as the packages 18 into a carton such as the cardboard carton 50. The packages 18 may be cheese crackers or the like, and in use a plurality of the packages 18 are adapted to be supplied from a suitable source of supply, and these packages may be conveyed to the machine by means of the endless belt 22 which forms part of the conveyor so that the packages 18 will move from right to left in FIGURE 3. These packages 18 will travel through the passageways 17, and the packages will move to a position whereby the packages 18 will be temporarily supported on the straps 72 beneath the members 42. As shown in FIGURE 3 for example, one of the packages 18 will contact the movable member 48 of the switch 47 so as to complete the electrical circuit to the motor 86, whereby the air compressor 85 will cause air under pressure to pass through conduits and into the cylinders 34, 58 and 92. As the air enters the cylinder such as the cylinder 79, its rod 78 will be moved so as to cause the beam 76 to move and since the beam 76 is connected to the straps 72 through the medium of the links 74, it will be seen that the straps 72 will be pivoted 90 degrees whereby the packages 18 will be able to be pushed downwardly into the open carton therebelow. At the same time, air under pressure will be supplied to the air cylinder 34 so that the rod 36 will move downwardly and since the rod 36 is connected as at 37 to the movable plunger 32, the plunger 32 will move downwardly so as to move the member 40 downwardly. The member 40 has secured thereto the fingers 41, and the L-shaped members 42 are secured to the fingers 41 as at 43 so that the packages 18 below the members 42 will be forced downwardly by the members 42 into the open carton 50.

Furthermore, the mechanism for moving one of the cartons 50 from the hopper 49 will be simultaneously actuated and this is brought about by supplying air to the cylinder 58 which moves the lever and this in turn moves the member 64 which is connected to the piece 67. Then as the piece 67 moves, it carries the spring loaded dog 68 past the lowermost carton 50 so as to remove this carton 50 from the bottom of the hopper 49 and this carton 50 is then moved into position between the angle irons 82. Then, with air supplied to the cylinder 92, the members 52 will be pivoted so as to move the suction cups 51 into engagement with outer portions of the folded box or carton 50 whereby with suction applied to the cups 5 1 through the medium of the vacuum pump 83, it will be seen that the carton 50 can be moved to extended position when it is positioned below the straps 72. After the carton has been loaded with the predetermined quantity of packages, it will move out of the way and the next car-ton will move into position so that it can be automatically loaded with the proper quantity of packages.

It is to be noted that the machine will operate automatically to load the proper quantity of packages 18 into the carton 50 and wherein the carton can be loaded quickly and accurately and with a minimum of effort or labor, so that the cost of loading the carton will be minimized or reduced.

The parts can be made of any suitable material and in different shapes or sizes.

After the hopper 49 is empty, it can be readily manually filled with a fresh supply of folded cartons 50. After the cartons have been filled with the packages of crackers or other material, a suitable top can be placed on the carton and then the cartons can be placed in a suitable receptacle such as a cardboard box or the like whereby such receptacles can be placed in a warehouse, or transported to a desired location.

. I Thus, it will be seen that there has been provided an apparatus or machine which is especially suitable for loading small packages such as cellophane wrapped packages of cheese crackers or the like into a carton or box. The present invention is constructed so that these small wrapped packages will be received from a Wrapping machine and automatically placed in a cardboard carton. These cartons are in fiat condition and the machine automatically opens the cardboard cartons and positions a plurality such as thirty or forty of the wrapped packages 38 in the cartons 50 after the cartons have been cpene In actual practice, more than one of the cartons 59 may be moved at one time and as stated previously, the machine can be used for packaging candies and other materials as well as crackers. In the event that all of the contacts 48 are not engaged by the crackers, then the circuit will not be completed and this is a safety feature since before the loading operation can be completed, the proper quantity of crackers must be in place.

Primarily the present invention is directed to a cracker loading station or packaging station and wherein the packages of crackers or other materials are fed to the station and at the same time the cartons are supplied or fed to the station and whereby the packages will be automatically placed in the cartons.

At the beginning of the operation, the carton hopper 49 is loaded with cartons 50, and the power can be cutoff by means of the main switch 87. The switch 88 can be operated for loading the cartons into the carton opening position and after getting the carton in open position, the switch 88 can be turned off and then the switch can be turned on to operate the micro-switches 47 which puts the machine into automatic operating position. As the packages of crackers feed along the passageways 17, they will engage the contacts 48 which energize the air cylinders so as to cause the members 42 to move downwardly and force the packages into the box on the first stroke. Then, a limit switch will be operated so as to cause the parts to return to their initial position and at the proper time vacuum will be supplied to or interrupted to the cups 51 and furthermore the cylinder 92 will be selectively operated to move the vacuum cups and this cycle of operation is repeated so that the boxes are continually loaded with the packages.

The special switch 88 is only to be used for feeding cartons into loading position. This switch disengages micro switches 47, which operate air cylinders 34 and 79, to prevent products from dropping before the carton is in loading position. When the carton is fed into open or loading position, then turn the special switch 88 back to normal position and the machine is then ready for automatic operation.

Micro switch 89 is a double-acting micro, as shown in FIGURE 6. This double-acting micro switch is used in order to get air cylinders 34 and 79 to get two cycles for each single cycle on air cylinders 58 and 92. This is because air cylinder 34 deposits only 15 packages each cycle, whereas, generally, box 50 contains 30 individual packages.

The beginning of the operation of the machine is as follows. Turn switch 88 in ofl position. Turn main switch 87 in on position. When box is transferred into open position, turn switch 88 in on" position so as to put the machine on automatic. As the packages feed in through line 17, this will contact micro switch bar 48 causing micro switch 47 to energize, which, in turn, operates air cylinders 34 and 79, causing straps 72 to release packages as L-shaped brackets on 40, which is operated by air cylinder 34, force packages into carton. This goes through two cycles, depositing 30 packages in each carton. On cycle two, this operates micro switch 89 which causes air cylinder 50 to make one cycle discharging full carton 50 and also replacing with empty carton into open position.

This completes the cycle and continues as long as all five 17 lanes have approximately 18 inches of packages to apply small amount of pressure on micro switches 47. This is to prevent the machine from operating without the proper amount of packages in the box.

In use the first carton is discharged by the movement of a second carton, and the second carton is discharged by the movement of a third carton, and this cycle of operation is continued as the machine is operated.

Minor changes in shape, size, and rearrangement of details coming within the field of invention claimed may be resorted to in actual practice, if desired.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, at least one generally U-shaped support member, a horizontally disposed plate mounted above said support member, a pair of spaced parallel vertically disposed beams secured to the outer portions of said plate, a plurality of spaced apart vertically disposed guide members interposed between said beams and said guide members defining therebetween passageways, vertically disposed ears extending upwardly from said guide members and terminating in horizontally disposed sections, a horizontally disposed crosspiece extending across said horizontally disposed sections, a pair of spaced parallel vertically disposed arms extending upwardly from said beams, a top member extending between the upper ends of said arms, a block secured to the top member and provided with a guideway, a cylinder affixed to said block, a plunger actuated by said cylinder and said plunger being slidably mounted in said guideway, a movable bracket secured to the lower end of said plunger, spaced parallel fingers depending from said bracket, L-shaped body members secured to the lower ends of said fingers, a vertically disposed end piece secured to said beams, and a plurality of switch units supported by said end piece, each of said switch units embodying a movable contact for selective engagement by the articles being handled.

2. In a device of the character described, at least one generally U-shaped support member, a horizontally disposed plate mounted above said support member, a pair of spaced parallel vertically disposed beams secured to the outer portions of said plate, a plurality of spaced apart vertically disposed guide members interposed between said beams and said guide members defining therebetween passageways, vertically disposed ears extending upwardly from said guide members and terminating in horizontally disposed sections, a horizontally disposed crosspiece extending across said horizontally disposed sections, a pair of spaced parallel vertically disposed arms extending upwardly from said beams, a top member'extending between the upper ends of said arms, a block secured to the top member and provided with a guideway, a cylinder affixed to said block, a plunger actuated by said cylinder and said plunger being slidably mounted in said guideway, a movable bracket secured to the lower end of said plunger, spaced parallel fingers depending from said bracket, L-shaped body members secured to the lower ends of said fingers, a vertically disposed end piece secured to said beams, a plurality of switch units supported by said end piece, each switch unit including a movable contact for selective engagement by the article being handled, a hanger mounted below said plate, a guide member contiguous to said hanger, said guide member being provided with a plurality of cutouts, movable straps having portions thereof projecting through said cutouts and pivotally connected to said hanger, links connected to said straps, a movable beam pivotally connected to said links, and an air cylinder for moving said beam upon actuation of said air cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,722,229 Molins July 23, 1929 2,206,279 Ferguson July 2, 1940 2,289,820 Ardell July 14, 1942 2,577,529 Kerr et a1. Dec. 4, 1951 2,609,645 Johnson et al Sept. 9, 1952 2,656,656 Murdoch Oct. 27, 1953 

